As the Walters Art Museum's executive director, Julia Marciari-Alexander's work is all about precious things. But it's the meaning of those "things" that intrigues the 47-year-old Homeland resident.
"A museum is a place for me where you preserve the great acts of human creativity; the results of human creativity, which are objects," she says. "But, you shouldn't just do it in service to those objects."
Instead, Marciari-Alexander says, she prefers to seek out the stories behind the objects, including the people who created and collected them, as well as those who experience them much later.
"I'm really interested in how things affect people and how things are representative of people; their capabilities, their hopes and dreams, and how they live," she says.
Marciari-Alexander also applies that premise to what she regards as her favorite personal possessions.
"The life of an object in the art historical sense is also something that happens here, in my house. These objects take on a significance. …They're attached to a long history or have some deeply intimate point for me, whether that's a friendship, or a family relationship, or they represent a moment in time," she says.
That history includes growing up in Claremont, Calif., as the daughter of the president of Pomona College, going to Wellesley College in Boston, then living in Paris and London as she worked on her master's degree in French literature. She then lived in New Haven, Conn., working for the Yale Center for British Art, before moving to California to work as deputy director for the San Diego Museum of Art.
Marciari-Alexander arrived in Baltimore in 2013 to become the first woman to serve as executive director of the Walters, bringing her husband, John Marciari — now head of the drawings department at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City — and twins Jack and Beatrice, now 10.
For more of Marciari-Alexander's story, just look to her 10 objects of significance.
"The more you know me, the more you will know how much they mean to me. And if you don't know me, they might be interesting to you, but they'll tell you something about me. It's that clue — that secret, that access — that makes them interesting and fun," she says with a wry smile.
The cats
Four-year-old sisters Lovey and Dovey, and 9-month-old Smitten. "I am very, very allergic to dogs. … So [growing up,] I never had that experience of loving an animal. … When I got married, we decided we wanted animals. I went and got tested, and the guy said, Yeah, you really are allergic to dogs. But, you're not allergic to cats; you should think about trying that. I didn't really think of myself as a cat person. Well, apparently, I've become a crazy cat person."
Book collection
Their huge collection of art, art history, literature and French literature books. "When you marry an art historian, and you are an art historian — or are a historian of culture, as well — you love books, as well. You amass your own library because the books on art history are really beautiful and you use them as resources as a scholar. … We have so many books, there are times when I wonder whether the load-bearing in the house can actually stand it."
Duchess portrait
A mezzotint of Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine (1640-1709). "My husband and I have been given some great reproductive prints from the 16th century all the way through the 20th. My favorite piece relates to my doctoral dissertation subject, which is of the No. 1 mistress of [England's] Charles II, who became a duchess in her own right, which was really an amazing thing to have happened when women couldn't own property. She was kind of a fantastic precursor to the Madonnas and Lady Gagas, in terms of a woman who was crafting her image. …This was like her album cover for her self-fashioning and how she wanted to be perceived. There were 27 versions of this portrait that she gave to her friends, all by the same artist, Peter Lely."
Decorative tiles
Decorative tiles in the backsplash of her kitchen. "One of the reasons that my husband and wanted to buy this house was that, not only was it by significant Baltimore architects, Edward L. Palmer and William D. Lamdin, but the people who had lived here were Scottish. They had inserted little pieces of Scotland, [like] these tiles by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, probably the greatest Scottish Arts and Crafts practitioner of the early 20th century. These are contemporary tiles using his designs; his rose trellis design … [reflecting] my own Scottish ancestry. And John and I just love the Arts and Crafts movement."
Pigs
Pig-themed items. "Sometime in high school or college, my sister, Kitty, and I started what we called the pig wars. She and I send each other gifts that are all pig-related. That pig was given to us by a friend at Yale, who decided we needed a walking, talking pig. Smitten carries it around as her pig baby. The pigs permeate."
Sewing basket
"My mother and I used to sew a lot. We always had a sewing station set up in our breakfast room. I love to sew and I don't do it often enough. But, now that my daughter is 10, she's started to really enjoy sewing. So the sewing basket has moved from the basement upstairs."
Violin
"I started playing the violin when I was 3. I was a Suzuki child. … At 16, I was playing very complicated music, but realized I was not reading the music, because I had learned the Suzuki method and had faked it enough so I was only ever really learning by ear. It was getting really frustrating because I was 16. So I quit. [I] really regretted it quite quickly, but didn't take it back up until I was in San Diego. … I bought a violin and I found a violin teacher [there]. … Now I have to find a good violin teacher here."
Egg cups
"I love soft-boiled eggs. Jack, my son, loves soft-boiled eggs. So we share that. The egg cups are by a ceramicist who taught at Pomona College, John Fassbinder, and I grew up with his daughter. He created the most beautiful ceramics."
Hand-painted earrings
"John had bought me these for Christmas in 2012, but he held them back because I was interviewing for the [Walters] job. On the day it was announced that I got the job, he gave them to me because they are Ravens. I wore them when I met the mayor that day."
Tuna casserole
"I'm good at a lot of things, but cooking is not one of my strengths. But, I have always loved tuna casserole, so I made sure I knew how to make it. And I make a mean tuna casserole. My husband does all the other cooking. He's a terrific cook."